Chris Arreola isn’t a stranger when it comes to boxing in Ontario, but the Aug. 13 heavyweight bout at Citizens Business Bank Arena against Manuel Quezada will not be like any other.

While Dan Goosen of Goossen Tutor Promotions balks at calling the bout – to be televised on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” – a make-or-break fight, one boxer is in danger of dropping out of the heavyweight title picture.

The scheduled 12-round fight is for the WBC Mexican National Championship as both fighters are Mexican-American and both are coming off a loss. Arreola (28-2, 25 KOs), who hails from Riverside, suffered a hard-fought upset-decision loss to Tomasz Adamek in April while Bakersfield’s Quezada (29-5, 18 KOs) lost to Jason Gavern, also in April.

Both fighters, who have sparred against each other, acknowledged the importance of the fight during a conference call on Thursday.

“This fight is a make-me-or-break-me kind of fight,” the 29-year-old Arreola said. “It’s for both of us. This is our opportunity to showcase ourselves.

“I definitely believe that this is a very important fight. It is going to be a tough road after this. Whoever loses, it’s going to be a tough road to get back into it. And my job in here is to win this fight and to take care of history. This is the first time that, I’m almost positive that two fighters of Mexican descent or any descent to basically kind of knock each other off just to make a history of their own.”

Quezada put the fight into prospective.

“This is a very important fight for me. This is my biggest fight,” the 32-year-old Wasco native said. “You can say it’s my Super Bowl. I haven’t fought in a bigger fight than this, but I’ll be ready to fight.

“I’m always at the gym, we got a new camp, I got a new trainer, and I’m feeling great, man. I’ll be ready to fight.”

Arreola also said he’s going to adopt a new attitude for the fight.

“I know this is Manny’s Super Bowl, this is his big fight. And I’m sure he’s going to train his ass off to try to knock my block off,” Arreola said. “I know what I have to do to win. And the only person (who can beat me) is myself, and I’ve done that two times already, and I’m tired of beating myself.

“The fight with Adamek, I really shot myself in the foot. You know, I cut some corners. Actually, I cut a lot of corners.

“You have to change your lifestyle. Sometimes you’ve just got to weed out the people that are a bad influence on you and the people that tell you `OK, that’s all right, that’s all right, you’ll be OK.’ You’ve just got to tell them it’s not OK.

“My career is more important than just hanging out with you or whatever it is. Luckily for me, I am a young fighter. I am a young heavyweight. And I’ve been able to make those changes.

Lou Brewster is a nationally recognized motorsports journalist who has staffed NASCAR and NHRA events since 1969. Has also staffed high school football, in five different states, since 1967. Has won several national awards in writing and breaking news.